What are the important events that happened on January 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

January 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

January 8 is the 8^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is December 26, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,938,240 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘octagon’ day.

Capricorn is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Garnet is the modern birthstone for this month. Emerald is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 21 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,401 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

January 8 Historical Events

• 1297 –
  François Grimaldi, disguised as monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco.
• 1790 –
  George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York, New York.
• 1838 –
  Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph system using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
• 1877 –
  Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory.
• 1904 –
  The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
• 1920 –
  The steel strike of 1919 ends in a complete failure for the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers labor union.
• 1956 –
  Operation Auca: Five U.S. missionaries are killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador shortly after making contact with them.
• 1961 –
  In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle’s policies in Algeria.
• 1989 –
  The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.
• 1994 –
  Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He would stay on the space station until March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.

Who were born on January 8?

• 1792 –
  Lowell Mason, American composer (d. 1872)
• 1873 –
  Iuliu Maniu, Romanian politician (d. 1953)
• 1905 –
  Franjo Šeper, Croatian Catholic cardinal (d. 1981)
• 1910 –
  Galina Sergeyevna Ulánova, Russian prima ballerina assoluta (d. 1998)
• 1924 –
  Ron Moody, English actor
• 1941 –
  Boris Vallejo, Peruvian illustrator
• 1942 –
  Valya Balkanska, Bulgarian folk singer
• 1971 –
  Jason Giambi, American baseball player
• 1972 –
  Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
• 1979 –
  Seol Ki-Hyeon, South Korean footballer

Who died on January 8?

• 1713 –
  Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer (b. 1653)
• 1934 –
  Andrei Bely, Russian writer (b. 1880)
• 1938 –
  Johnny Gruelle, Creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (b. 1880)
• 1948 –
  Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor (b. 1891)
• 1958 –
  Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)
• 1975 –
  Richard Tucker, American tenor (b. 1913)
• 1976 –
  Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1898)
• 1996 –
  Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic (b. 1907)
• 1997 –
  Melvin Calvin, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 2004 –
  John A. Gambling, American radio talk-show host (b. 1930)